Joseph Demond Towers, 37, of Jackson, pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On April 5, 2018, a concerned citizen called 911 to report that a man was sitting outside a residence on a sofa and displaying a weapon. The man had pointed the weapon at a female who drove by the residence. When officers with the Jackson Police Department arrived, Towers admitted to having a gun in his pocket. Towers had several prior felony convictions out of Hinds County.

Towers faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Jackson Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mary Helen Wall.

This case is part of Project EJECT, an initiative by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). EJECT is a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to fighting and reducing violent crime in Jackson through prosecution, prevention, re-entry and awareness. EJECT stands for "Empower Justice Expel Crime Together." PSN is a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.